Thomas Alfred Davies

Thomas Alfred Davies (December 3, 1809 – August 19, 1899) was an American businessman, engineer, and soldier. He served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1866, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers, to rank from July 11, 1865. After the war Davies was a successful realtor as well as an author. Early life and career Davies was born in 1809 near Black Lake, located in St. Lawrence County, New York. He spent his childhood and early youth in his father's farm and received common education from the local schools. He entered the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1825, and graduated on July 1, 1829, ranked twenty-fifth. Future high-ranking Confederates in the class of 1829 were Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and Theophilus H. Holmes. Davies was commissioned in the 1st U.S. Infantry on the Wisconsin frontier and as quartermaster at the Military Academy. In 1831 he resigned his commission to practice civil engineering in New York City. He was a merchant in New York from 1841 to the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. Civil War service When the American Civil War began in 1861, Davies chose to follow his native state and the Union cause. He was elected colonel of the 16th New York Infantry Regiment on May 15. Davies led a brigade during the First Battle of Bull Run that July. He then commanded the 10th Brigade in the defenses of Washington, D.C., until March 7, 1862. On that date Davies was promoted to brigadier general in the Union Army, and he was transferred to the Army of the Tennessee in the Western Theater.